Briton accused of central role in Libya's nuclear bomb plan

A British businessman was named in court in Germany yesterday as a key figure in what has been dubbed the world's worst nuclear proliferation racket, alleged to have helped Libyan attempts to build a nuclear bomb.

At the trial in Mannheim in south-west Germany of a businessman accused of nuclear trafficking, the state prosecutor, Peter Lintz, named Peter Griffin, a Briton, as one of a handful of international members of the nuclear network masterminded by the disgraced Pakistani metallurgist, Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Just over two years ago, Khan, hailed as the father of the Pakistani bomb, was pardoned by Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, after confessing to running a nuclear trafficking network that supplied crucial technology and, in at least one case, a nuclear bomb blueprint to Libya, Iran, and North Korea.

Gotthard Lerch, 63, a German engineer accused of being a central player in the Khan network, faces up to 15 years in jail if found guilty of breaking Germany's weapons and exports laws. He was extradited to Germany from Switzerland last July. He denies the charges. It is clear that his defence team will seek to prove Mr Lerch is the innocent victim of a western intelligence plot.

Reading the charges against Mr Lerch, Mr Lintz argued that the accused knowingly helped the Khan network to furnish Colonel Muammar Gadafy with a uranium enrichment plant that would have comprised more than 11,000 centrifuges manufacturing enough weapons-grade uranium "for several nuclear warheads a month".

Col Gadafy renounced his secret nuclear programme in 2003 and his officials have supplied copious information on the Khan network from which the Libyan leader was said to be buying a $100m (£52m) bomb-building kit.

"To produce and supply the goods needed by Libya, Khan used a circle of proven helpers who had already been of service to him for his own centrifuge programme," Mr Lintz said. He named these "helpers" as a Sri Lankan businessman who was Khan's main aide, a Swiss engineer also awaiting trial, Mr Lerch, and "the machine tool supplier Peter Griffin".

Mr Griffin, 70, is believed to be retired and living in the south of France after having been based in Dubai with his firm, Gulf Technical Industries (GTI).

German investigators preparing the case against Mr Lerch have questioned Mr Griffin in France and he is expected to be called as a witness. Mr Griffin has in the past stated that he has known Khan for years, but has strenuously denied knowingly having anything to do with a Libyan nuclear programme. He has never been charged with any offences in connection with the Khan network.

Prosecutor Lintz claimed that all of those named yesterday were tasked around 1999 with providing Libya with 10,000 advanced centrifuges for enriching uranium.

While the Sri Lankan, BSA Tahir, coordinated the sub-contracting and supply work, the Swiss engineer, Friedrich Tinner, Mr Lerch and Mr Griffin supervised and facilitated the work, Mr Lintz said. The Libyan contracts were farmed out to firms in South Africa, Malaysia, Turkey and Switzerland for components manufacture, the prosecutor alleged.

While UN investigators at the International Atomic Energy Agency who have been trying to unravel the Khan network for three years say that all of the men named yesterday were central players, Mr Lerch denies the charges.

The prosecution suffered a severe setback yesterday when the defence questioned the legal grounds for his extradition from Switzerland. The presiding judge, Michael Seidling, ordered clarification from the Swiss authorities. The prosecutor conceded that the outcome could be that the Mannheim court is not competent to try the case.

The Mannheim trial is the first in connection with the Khan network. Further trials are expected in Switzerland and South Africa. Gerhard Wisser, a German resident in South Africa and colleague of Mr Lerch's, is awaiting trial on charges of plotting to send the equipment to Libya.

The German charges allege that Mr Lerch arranged the South African contracts and that Mr Lerch earned some €28m (£20m), half of it profit, from the alleged Libyan business.

Mr Lintz alleged that all of those named in Mannheim yesterday were aware that the machinery was being made for a uranium enrichment centrifuge system for Libya and sought to mask the real purpose by drawing up contracts for a water purification plant for Jordan.

In November 2000, alleged Mr Lintz, the accused commissioned Mr Griffin and GTI to purchase specialised lathes in Spain to be sent to the South African contacts to manufacture high-quality steel needed for centrifuge rotors.